


In a Heartbeat

by HiddenTreasures



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-05 02:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12180954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/pseuds/HiddenTreasures
Summary: On their eighteenth birthday, everyone is given a ring that, when they are in close enough proximity, will beat in time with their soulmate’s heart.





	1. Chapter 1

“It’s you!”

James looked around and watched as two men joyfully embraced each other in the middle of the library. In a surprising fit of strength, the smaller of the two lifted the other man off his feet with how enthusiastic his hug was.

James smiled at the newly-met soulmates and joined in with the outbreak of applause, even as a small pang of longing settled low in his stomach. His soul-ring was cold and silent against his finger, as it had been for the last eight years. Just like the rest of the population, for the first several months after receiving his soul-ring, he had been obsessed with the idea of finding his soulmate. He imagined all the places and scenarios in which he would meet the person who would be his other half, but after the initial high wore off, James decided it didn’t matter when or how it happened. The moment would come in its own time.

But then, shortly after he graduated uni, he received news that put soulmates out of his mind completely.

James clenched his hands into fists as a dull ache throbbed in his chest. He could remember every horrific word of the phone call that had brought his life crashing down around him. The plane his family had been on for their annual vacation to America had gone down, and there had been no survivors.

Everyone—his parents, his brother, his little nephew, his grandparents—gone. And he was left alone.

That was a dark time for James. He’d never been particularly close to his family—he’d moved out and started uni when he was only sixteen—and he hadn’t been in regular contact with them, but they were still his family, and the complete and sudden loss of all of his blood relatives had left him empty and in agony.

He wouldn’t have made it through if not for his uni friends. Jack, Martha, and Donna had all banded together to help him through his tragedy, and they all opened their homes and their hearts to him as he grieved. Yet still there had been days where he had wanted to give up, both on himself and on his soulmate, because what was the point of loving someone when all it did was leave you broken and bleeding in the end?

James remembered the day he had gone to the lake near his family’s old house, and he’d taken his soul-ring off his finger and made to chuck it into the water. But as he wound his arm back to throw it, his foot slipped on the wet rocks and he went crashing to the ground. The ring had fallen out of his hands as he moved to try to catch himself, but he still fell into the shallow waters. He was instantly soaked and had scraped up his hands and bruised his knees where he fell, and he was just so angry with himself and the universe that he had screamed to release the agony and frustration until his voice cracked.

As he sat in the water, shouting and sobbing, he realized his ring was gone, and an all-consuming panic had overtaken him. He frantically pawed around in the clear, shallow water, thinking he’d lost the one thing that had the potential to bring him happiness again. The longer he looked for the ring, the more helpless he felt, and he was just about to give up and accept that he’d completely doomed himself and his soulmate, when something shiny glinted in the grass.

With his heart in his throat, James had scrambled onto the bank and he began crying again when his fingers touched against the cool metal of his soul-ring. He shoved it back onto his finger and vowed to never ever take it off.

It was nearly five years to the day since that awful afternoon, and true to his word, James never took off his ring. Those first few months after the loss of his family had made him frantic once more to find his soulmate, but as he worked through his grief and his pain, the desperation died down and he stopped putting all of his energy into the idea of the perfect person who would make him feel whole again.

That wasn’t fair on his soulmate, he had eventually concluded. James didn’t think there was anyone who would make the emptiness go away, but he was confident that his soulmate would help fill the void left behind, and that they would make the burden easier to bear.

But rather than do nothing but wait for that special someone, James began filling his life with some new hobbies. He went back to school to get a few more degrees and his doctorate; he went stargazing in the middle of nowhere at least one weekend a month; he learned how to knit and crochet; he took some art lessons (and was still quite awful at it) and he took yoga lessons (and found out just how flexible his lean body was).

He bought a little house a few miles from the uni where he taught and he immersed himself in interior decorating and gardening. A few months after buying the house, he adopted a cat from the local shelter to give himself something living to look after. Plants were fine and all, but they weren’t warm and soft and cuddly. He thankfully adopted a cat that loved cuddles, and he was immediately smitten with his new furry housemate.

He had Jack, Donna, and Martha over for dinner on the first Tuesday of every month, and he went out with his fellow professors for quiz night every Thursday, and he was friendly with all of his neighbors.

He was thoroughly content with his life as it was, and James was nothing but proud of himself for all of his accomplishments and how had clawed his way back up after he had hit rock bottom.

The sound of the dying applause brought James back to the present, where the two new soulmates were still locked in their fierce embrace. James turned away from them, still smiling with happiness for the two strangers, and he walked to the front of the library to check out the books in his arms.

“Sci-fi, historical fiction, and a recipe book,” the librarian said with a smile. “Quite the diverse array of interests.”

“Quite,” James said, handing over his library card. “Gives me something to read before bed that isn’t students’ lab reports. And this one has loads of new recipes I want to try. Lots of slow-cooker ones too. I love those. Can turn it on before work and come home to a hot meal at the end of the day. It’s brilliant!”

The librarian smiled at him, and James bid her a good day before he dropped his books into his bag and left the library.

He checked his watch, and nodded when he was still on schedule.

 _Right,_  he said to himself,  _a quick stop at the bank, then to the grocery store._

He mentally made a shopping list for himself as he walked in the direction of the bank, and he mulled over what he might want to make himself for dinner that week.

oOoOo

Rose was as excited as everyone always was for her eighteenth birthday. That was the day she would receive her soul-ring. She had been looking forward to this day for years. Growing up, she’s always had a fascination with soulmates, and she’d often daydreamed about finding hers and living happily ever after with them.

She kissed her mum good morning and squealed in delight when a package was sitting at her place at the kitchen table. With a knife, she eagerly opened the package from no one, addressed to Rose M. Tyler

Nobody knew how soulmates worked. Legend was that God fashioned the first humans out of the same material, and that their souls were truly one soul that inhabited both bodies. It was said their soul recognized each other as their other half, and thus they would live together forever in peace and happiness because they were truly complete.

To show that unity and togetherness, God made them matching rings and put within each one the heartbeat of the other, and once together, their rings would forever beat with their soulmate’s pulse until the day one of their hearts stopped.

A lot of people called it a creation myth, and many had their own ideas of how the soulbond came to be, but nothing had ever been proven. There were still people who worked diligently to solve the riddle of the soulbond, but no one had ever been successful, and for the most part, people were pleased to let it remain a mystery, because some things just couldn’t be explained by science.

Rose was in that category. She was in love with the idea that there was a deep and powerful magic beyond anybody’s knowledge or control that tied two people together as each other’s perfect and equal match.

Nobody knew how the rings were delivered, either, except that everybody awoke on their eighteenth birthday to a package on their doorstep. People have created stories about that too, everything from a stork—like the children’s baby-making tale—to magic like the delivery of a Hogwarts letter.

Not caring how she received the package, Rose reached into the box and her fingers brushed up against a smaller wooden box. She giddily retrieved the box and opened the hinged lid. Tucked inside was a small black ring that was edged in what looked like rose gold on either side. It looked far too big to fit on her finger, but she shrugged and lifted it out of its velvet pillow and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand.

The ring felt cool on her finger, and Rose gasped when the band suddenly shrank to fit perfectly around her finger.

“It’s like  _Lord of the Rings_!” she said excitedly, turning to her mum, who was looking on with a bittersweet expression on her face.

Her mum had lost her soulmate when Rose was just a baby, but Jackie still wore her soul-ring on her finger, and Rose knew she wore Pete’s soul-ring on a chain around her neck. But Jackie still smiled at Rose’s enthusiasm, and she listened indulgently as Rose speculated excitedly about the kind of person her soulmate might be.

For the next year, the new weight of the ring on her finger was a constant thought in Rose’s mind. She wondered how long she would have to wait before she met her soulmate.

While she really wanted to find her soulmate, she refused to be one of those people who spent thousands of pounds every year to go to the world-wide soulmates convention. The convention was held in a different city all across the globe every year, and every year hundreds of thousands of people flocked there in hopes of finding the person who would activate their ring.

But as she watched the news coverage on that year’s soulmates convention, and she saw the highlight reel of the lucky few who had found their soulmate, Rose couldn’t help the little pang of jealousy deep in her stomach. It wasn’t fair that it cost so much money to attend the global conventions. There were local ones that were less expensive, but honestly, what were the odds that her soulmate lived in the same region as she did? And what were the odds that she would ever meet her soulmate when she didn’t have the money to travel around to look for them?

Rose tried not to dwell in those thoughts, and she instead tried to remain positive and optimistic that she would meet her soulmate when the time came.

She’d had her soul-ring for nearly two years, and her fervent desire to find her soulmate had since cooled to a softer yearning. She was happy with herself and content with the trajectory of her life. She had gone back to school after taking a year to work at a department store to help build up her bank account to afford uni.

She still lived with her mum in their council flat, but she didn’t mind it, not when she was saving on housing. And she had found a job as a cashier in a little café on campus. All in all, not a bad life.

 _It’d be better with two, though,_  she thought longingly whenever two soulmates stopped for coffee in the shop.

She saw how perfectly happy the soulmates were, and she ached to find someone who would make her that happy, and would smile at her like she was the most important woman on Earth.

The little bell above the door chimed, and Rose looked up and saw her replacement walk in. She finished up the transaction she was in the middle of before she grabbed her schoolbag and her paycheck and headed outside.

Checking her phone, she saw she still had plenty of time before the bank closed, and she headed off in that direction.

It was a mild day, considering it was the beginning of March, and Rose unzipped her hoodie as she walked nine blocks to the bank.

She finally made it, and glanced both ways across the street. It was London, there was always traffic, but there was a big enough gap that she could make it if she hurried.

But just as she approached the curb, she felt a pulse in her finger. Or rather, against her finger.

Her surroundings faded, and she whirled around wildly, looking for the person who activated her ring.

Her gaze landed on a man in a brown suit across the street who was spinning around madly. Warmth settled in her chest, and she grinned as she began to walk towards her soulmate.

oOoOo

James stepped out of the bank and was about to hail a cab to the grocery store when he felt his ring go warm and it began to beat rhythmically against his finger.

His soulmate!

He spun around in a daze, wondering which person was the one who triggered his ring. But no one else seemed to be madly spinning around looking for him. His heart fell. Was his soulmate not as excited about him as he was about them? Oh! Or maybe they’d been in one of the passing cars! Any moment now, a car would stop and his soulmate would step out…

He heard the screech of brakes and knew that had to be his soulmate.

James turned around, but looked on in horror as the scene unfolded before his eyes as though in slow motion.

A grinning blonde girl was looking right at him, and not at the traffic she had stepped in to. A car horn blared and its tires were still squealing against the brakes, and the girl looked away from him just in time to see the oncoming car. He watched her close her eyes just as the front of the car made impact with her legs, sending her flying into the air.

James felt numb inside at the sound her body made when the car hit it, and then again when she hit the tarmac.

“No, no, no,” he begged, jogging towards the fallen women. Towards his soulmate. “Please, no.”

Traffic had stopped and people had begun to crowd around her. Many people were on their phones, presumably calling for an ambulance, but James paid them no mind as he ran up to the woman and dropped to his knees.

He thought he might be sick when he saw her crumpled body. He fluttered his hands across her, not knowing what to do or how to help her. He saw her soul-ring on her finger, edged in rose gold like his, and he rested a trembling hand against her hand.

His ring flared hot and seemed to send a bolt of electricity through his hand, up his arm, and into his chest, before the zing faded and his ring remained warm on his finger.

The heartbeat in the ring was slower than it was mere moments ago, and the panic began to set in for James.

“No, no, no!” he cried, placing his fingers at her neck to find her pulse. Tears blurred his vision when his fingertips felt the same weak pulse as the one in his ring.

“She just came out of nowhere.”

James looked up and saw the driver of the car that had hit his soulmate. Anger swelled through him, hot and vicious, and James snarled, “Why were you driving so fast? Eh?! This is a pedestrian-heavy area!”

“Oi, mate, she stepped right out in front of me!”

“I don’t care!” he shouted. “I don’t bloody care! You hit her! You hit her! This is all your fault!”

The wailing of sirens pulled his attention back to his soulmate, who was still laying unresponsive in the street.

“D’you hear that?” he whispered to her, holding her hand tightly in his. “Eh? That’s the sound of help. Just stay with me, okay? Stay with me now. Don’t leave me. You can’t leave me. We’ve only just met. We still have so much to do together. So much life ahead of us. Please don’t leave me. Please.”

Hands were pulling at him and pushing him out of the way. He watched helplessly as paramedics gathered around his soulmate and lifted her onto a stretcher and loaded her into the back of an ambulance.

“Let me go with her,” he begged, staggering towards her. “She’s my soulmate. Please. Please let me go with her.”

But nobody seemed to be paying attention to him, and as he moved to climb into an ambulance with her, strong hands stopped him.

A police officer was looking at him and telling him he needed to give a statement, but the words the officer was saying didn’t make any sense as the back doors of the ambulance were slammed shut and the vehicle drove away.

“No,” he whimpered. “No, please. I need to be with her!”

“I’ll drive you to the hospital as soon as we’re done,” the officer soothed. “Can you tell me your name?”

“That’s my soulmate,” he whispered, feeling sick as he watched the ambulance disappear around a corner. “That’s my soulmate in there.”

“I know, but let’s start with your name.”

“James,” he said. “James Smith. That’s my soulmate. I need to be with my soulmate.”

“I’ll take you to her in just a few minutes,” the officer promised. “Now, what’s your soulmate’s name?”

James started at the officer uncomprehendingly.

“I don’t know,” he whispered.

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head and anxiously fiddled with his ring with shaking hands.

“My ring just activated a few minutes ago,” he answered. “It’s just started beating…”

But as he said the words, his ring suddenly went silent.

“No. No, no, no!” he screamed.

His knees finally gave out, and he went crashing to the ground.

James squeezed his ring between his fingers, willing it to work again. He took it off and put it back on—trying it on all ten fingers—and he shook it and yelled at it, but the ring was still silent.

His soulmate’s heart had stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hugs for everyone, and remember there is a chapter 2!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, this is now three chapters instead of two, but I don’t think many of you are upset about that ;) I just couldn’t leave this without leaving room for them to be cute and romantic and lovey-dovey.

James’s stomach was lodged in his throat, and he thought he might be sick.

_Please_ , he whimpered, spinning his ring around on his finger.  _Please beat. Please beat. Please._

A hand touched his shoulder and he flinched away from it.

“I’m so sorry,” the officer said with the most pitying look James had ever seen.

“No,” he said, scrubbing his hand across his streaming nose. “No, she’s fine. She’s not d— She’s okay. She just… she just went out of range, is all. I’m too far away from her. You’ll see. I need to get to the hospital. Then my ring will work again. Take me to the hospital.”

The officer was still looking at him with a pinched expression of sorrow, but he nodded and grabbed James under the armpits and hefted him to his feet. But James still couldn’t feel his legs—or his body, for that matter—and he nearly went crashing to the ground again.

“Come on, now,” the officer said with a grunt as he wrapped an arm around James’s waist to steady him. “Easy does it.”

They finally got James tucked into the passenger’s seat of the police car, and they drove away from the scene.

James continued to fiddle with his soul-ring, desperately clinging to the hope that it would begin to beat again. It seemed like hours had passed since he’d felt his soulmate’s heartbeat, but in reality, it hadn’t been more than five minutes.

His mind continued replaying the accident over and over again. He saw his soulmate’s beautiful smile melt away as she closed her eyes against what she knew was coming. He could still hear the sickening thud of her body hitting the street. He could still feel the zing of electricity when he’d touched her for the first time.

Meeting your soulmate was supposed to be the happiest day of your life. But James wanted to run so far and fast, and scream at the universe for doing this to him. Hadn’t he already lost enough?

His ring suddenly zapped him and he squeaked and jumped as the ring throbbed steadily against his finger once more.

“Oh, God,” he whimpered, his hands trembling as he spun the ring around his finger again and again. “Oh, thank God.”

“All right?”

“It’s beating,” James said. He choked out a breath that was half-sob, half-laugh, and his eyes burned with fresh tears. “It’s beating again. I knew it. She wasn’t… She’s alive. I knew it. She’d just gone out of range is all.”

James ignored the voice in the back of his mind that told him once soulmates met and touched for the first time, distance wasn’t an issue for the rings. He refused to entertain the notion that his soulmate’s heart had stopped even for a few minutes.

The officer was smiling gently at him as he continued driving through the streets until they finally made it to the hospital.

James barely waited until the car was stopped before he scrambled out. He was vaguely aware that the policeman was calling after him, but he ignored him to find his soulmate again.

He burst through the hospital doors and rushed up to a front desk.

“My soulmate was just brought in,” he said in a rush. “She was in an auto accident. She was hit by a car. She’s here somewhere and I need to be with her.”

“Slow down, sir,” the receptionist said, and James swallowed back his impatience. “Can you tell me her name?”

“I… No, I don’t know her name,” James admitted. “We just met when she was hit by a car as she was crossing the street. But she just came in. By ambulance. Just a few minutes ago. Please can you just tell me where she is? She’s my soulmate. Please.”

The receptionist pursed her lips and ran a dubious look up and down him, and James was getting frustrated that nobody seemed to want to help him get to his soulmate.

“It’s all right.”

James whirled around and saw the police officer walking to the front desk.

“Rose Tyler,” the officer said, and it was only then that James realized the officer had his soulmate’s backpack over his shoulder, and was looking at her wallet. “The woman we’re looking for is Rose Tyler.”

_Rose Tyler_. His soulmate was Rose Tyler.  _Rooooose Tyyyyylerrrrr._  He rolled the name around in his head, and he was absolutely in love with it.

Now, to meet the woman the name belonged to.

“So where is she?” James demanded.

The receptionist was still looking at James skeptically, but she typed at her keyboard then said, “Rose Tyler is currently being prepped for surgery.”

James’s breath seemed to leave his lungs, and he leaned heavily against the front desk. Surgery. If Rose needed surgery…

“How is she? Is she okay? What-what-what’s the surgery for?”

“It looks like a punctured lung,” the receptionist said, scanning her computer screen.

“Oh, God,” James wheezed. “But-but she’ll be okay, right? That-that’s what the surgery’s for, yeah? So she’ll be okay?”

“Why don’t you go on to the waiting room?” the receptionist said, finally looking at him with a bit of sympathy. “That way you’ll be informed as soon as she’s out of surgery.”

James nodded, and he turned around and forced his legs to take him to the waiting room.

There were a few other people, but they were all engrossed in their phones or a magazine. James collapsed in a chair furthest away from people, and he exhaled shakily as he rubbed his palms over his face.

What a day. It had started off so normally. He woke up, fed his cat, and went off on his Saturday errands. He’d never imagined he would meet his soulmate that day, much less be faced with the possibility of losing her.

A lump welled up in James’s throat. He should’ve looked for her, instead of just letting it happen. Maybe if had expended a bit of time and effort, he would have found her, and she wouldn’t be laying in a hospital bed awaiting surgery because she ignored her surroundings to get to him.

He raked his hands through his hair. It was all his fault. She’d only crossed that street to walk to him. If he’d just spent a little extra time in the library, their paths wouldn’t’ve crossed that day, and maybe then Rose would be healthy and uninjured. Sure, he wouldn’t know his soulmate, but at least he would be comforted by the knowledge (hope) that she was out there somewhere, safe and well and whole, and he could meet her later.

“You said that your soul-ring just activated earlier today?”

James jumped as a voice began speaking right next to him. The officer sat down, and James looked over at him uncomprehendingly.

The officer nodded down to James’s hand, where he had been absently spinning his ring around his finger.

“Yeah,” he said, brushing his thumb across the ring’s smooth surface. “Yeah, it just started beating before… She… She felt it too. Obviously. And she saw me from across the street… And that’s when she…”

James’s voice lodged in his throat as he looked helplessly down at his ring. Her pulse was slow, but steady, and every new beat kept his anxieties at bay.

“So you saw the accident, yeah?”

James nodded, then modified, “Well. I saw the collision.”

“Did you see Rose step into the street?”

James wracked his memory, but it was all one big blur of seeing his soulmate, then watching her get hit by a car.

“I… maybe?” James shrugged helplessly. “What does it matter?”

“We need to know if the driver of the car is responsible.”

“Of course he’s bloody responsible,” James growled. “He hit my soulmate.”

“Yes, but we need to know if he can be legally held responsible,” the officer said patiently.

“Then check the bloody traffic cameras,” James said, wanting to be left alone to wait in peace.

The officer sighed, and nodded, and he said something about phoning Rose’s family before he walked away and James was left with nothing but his thoughts as he waited for news on his soulmate.

James passed the time by pacing, mostly, and going for fresh coffee every time his cup emptied.

He watched as the people in the waiting room were called back with news on their friend or loved one, and James was jealous every time someone left, because that meant they had answers, and he desperately wanted answers on Rose.

After about two hours, a middle aged blonde woman joined him in the waiting room. She was visibly shaken and her eyes were red and puffy with tears, and he sympathized with the woman. He was sure he didn’t look much better.

For a while, they were the only two in the waiting room, and when James went for his fifth cup of coffee, the woman joined him. She made herself some tea, but as she went to open a sugar packet, her trembling hands caused her to rip it down the middle, and sugar granules went flying.

“Bugger,” the woman mumbled, crumpling the packet in her first before she chucked it in the trash.

“Here, let me,” James said gently. He took a handful of packets and opened one to give to the woman, before he tore open three to dump into his coffee.

“Ta,” the woman said, stirring the sugar into her steaming mug of tea.

They were silent for a few minutes, before the woman asked, “So who are you here for?”

“My soulmate,” he answered, rubbing his thumb across his ring, which was still throbbing steadily against his finger. “You?”

“My daughter,” she replied with a weak smile.

With those inane pleasantries out of the way, they both retired to the waiting room, and were lost in their own anxieties.

But eventually, the many coffees James had consumed worked their way through his system, and after putting it off for as long as he could, he finally wandered off to find a loo.

After relieving himself and washing his hands, he inspected his reflection in the mirror. He looked awful. His face was pale and taut with worry, and his hair was sticking out in every direction.

He splashed cold water on his face and used his fingers to try to tame his hair, but with little luck. He sighed. He supposed it didn’t matter what he looked like when he was finally able to see Rose, but he wished his cheeks would get a bit of color so he didn’t look like a walking corpse.

When he got back to the waiting room, his heart fell a little when he saw the blonde woman was gone. Though they didn’t really speak to each other, there was a sense of camaraderie between them as they waited for news on their loved one.

He wondered if things worked out all right for her daughter, and he wondered how much longer it would take before he got news on Rose.

But he supposed no news was good news—at least that’s what he was telling himself—and so he refilled his coffee and resigned himself to wait once more, alone.

oOoOo

Rose was groggy when she awoke. Her entire body was aching, but it seemed to be concentrated in her head at the moment. She tried to move, but searing pain radiated through her legs and torso, and she whimpered as she stiffened, trying to find a position that didn’t hurt.

“Hey.”

She was finally aware that someone was stroking her hair, and she blinked a few times to clear her vision before her mum’s face swam into view.

“Hi,” Rose rasped.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

Tears welled in Jackie’s eyes, and Rose’s nose scrunched in confusion.

“I’ve been so worried! I got the call… and it was like Pete all over again!”

Rose wracked her memory, but everything seemed so far away and so blurry. But then Jackie swiped at her eyes and Rose caught sight of her mother’s soul-ring, and everything came rushing back to her: her ring activating… seeing her soulmate… stepping out into traffic…

“Mum, my soulmate!” Rose tried to sit up again, but pain burned through her once more, leaving her gasping. “My soulmate! I need to find him! He saw the accident!”

“Rose, love, slow down,” Jackie soothed. “What are you talking about?”

“My ring! It activated! I found my soulmate!” Rose flexed her fingers, and she couldn’t even be bothered that her left arm was wrapped in plaster because her soul-ring was gone. “Where’s my ring? Where is it?! Oh, God, I need to find my soulmate! He saw me get hit! I have to find him… Oh, but I don’t even know his name!”

Jackie watched Rose’s growing agitation, and a niggling suspicion entered her mind. But first…

Jackie walked over to the little plastic bag that contained everything Rose had on her during the accident. She rifled through the bag until her fingers touched a ring that was beating.

“Here, sweetheart,” Jackie said, feeling happy for her daughter, despite the circumstances. “Here’s your ring. Now… your soulmate… do you remember what he looks like?”

“Tall… brown hair… was wearing a brown suit… How am I gonna find him, Mum?” Rose’s eyes filled with tears as she cradled her ring in her hand.

“Hang on a moment, sweetheart,” Jackie said, giving her daughter a soft kiss on the forehead. “I think your soulmate has been waiting here for you.”

Jackie turned away from her daughter and stalked back to the waiting room to find the bloke who said he was here for his soulmate.

oOoOo

It had been a half hour since he’d gotten back from the loo and remanded to wait by himself. He was sitting in the seat he’d sat in all afternoon. Both knees were jiggling as he bounced his feet, and he had another full cup of coffee in his hands. His body was shaking, and he knew he should probably eat something to combat the huge influx of caffeine, but he couldn’t bear to leave the waiting room lest he miss news about Rose.

He was just about to take a sip of the mediocre hospital coffee when someone called out to him.

“Oi, you. What’s your soulmate’s name?”

James looked up and saw the middle-aged woman walking towards him.

“Rose,” he said, and the woman’s face softened. “Rose Tyler.”

“What a coincidence. That’s my daughter’s name.”

James blinked up at the woman uncomprehendingly.

“Well come on, then,” the woman said. “Don’t just sit there.”

James scrambled to his feet, nearly spilling his coffee in his haste. He strode over to the woman and followed her as she turned down the corridor.

“How is she? Will she be all right?”

“Yeah, she’ll be fine,” the woman soothed. “She’s just a bit banged up, is all. Lots of broken bones, but nothing serious.”

James willed the woman to walk faster to guide him to his soulmate.

“But they said she had a punctured lung,” James argued.

“ _Had_ ,” the woman stressed. “They fixed that right up. She’ll be fine.”

They finally arrived at a room, and James felt terrified. His soulmate was in there. And it was all his fault she was there.

Before he could muster the scraps of his courage, the woman—Rose’s mother— opened the door and stepped in, then gestured for him to enter. He took a steadying breath as he walked into the room. His eyes were drawn immediately to the woman in bed. Her left arm was encased in plaster, and though her legs were hidden by the blankets, the bulky bulge of them made it apparent those, too, were broken. Scrapes and bruises marred her face and her exposed right arm, but James’s eyes were brought to her right hand, where a black and rose gold-edged ring was resting on her thumb.

“Hi,” he managed to squeak out. “Rose?”

She had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling so widely, and James’s heart stuttered in his chest at the sight. She had such a beautiful smile.

“You have me at a disadvantage,” she whispered.

James furrowed his brow, before he realized what she was asking. “Oh! James. James Smith. Hi. Er, I already said that.”

“Very thorough,” Rose teased. But her smile slipped and she bit her lip nervously. “You can come closer, you know.”

James realized he was still standing in the doorway, and he stepped further into the room and approached her bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly, letting his eyes roam across her body.

“A bit achy,” she admitted. “Breathing sort of hurts. I’d hate to think how I’d really feel if they weren’t giving me pain meds.”

“Rose, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, slowly sitting down in the chair beside her bed.

“Why? It’s not your fault.”

“You were only crossing the street because your soul-ring activated,” James said.

“Yeah, but it’s not your fault I wasn’t paying attention to the traffic before stepping out onto the street,” Rose argued.

James wanted to protest further, but he bit his tongue. This was his first meeting with his soulmate, and he didn’t want to waste it by arguing with her or wallowing in his own self-pity.

“Well,” he said, attempting a smile, “this isn’t exactly how I imagined meeting my soulmate.” He tentatively reached out for her uninjured right hand, and was pleased when she met him halfway and twined their fingers together. Her hand fit perfectly in his, and the feeling of her thumb stroking his seemed to dispel his lingering fears. “But as long as you’re going to be okay, I’m just so happy to finally meet you.”

“Me too,” Rose said with a soft smile that morphed into a yawn.

“You must be exhausted,” James said. “You should sleep.”

“No, no, I’m all right,” Rose protested.

“Really, Rose, it’s all right,” he said, and he lifted her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. Then he nodded to the clock, where the time read 6:57pm. “You need sleep, and the hospital staff are probably going to kick me out in just a few minutes. I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow though. Er, if-if you want, that is.”

“That would be nice,” Rose said through another yawn. She gave his fingers a squeeze then brought them to her lips. His skin seemed to tingle where she pressed a kiss to his knuckles, and it sent warmth bubbling through his chest.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Rose,” he murmured, giving her hand a final squeeze.

“See you, James.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, this is now three chapters instead of two, but I don’t think many of you are upset about that ;) I just couldn’t leave this without leaving room for them to be cute and romantic and lovey-dovey.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here’s the promised fluffy end! I hope you enjoyed this little story!

Rose spent almost two weeks in the hospital. She’d undergone another surgery a week after her first one, this time to repair her left leg, which had been the most damaged in the accident.

James visited her every day, sneaking her chips and tea, talking with her, and laughing with her.

When she was released from the hospital, she was transferred to a sister facility that would provide round-the-clock care for her. James told her time and time again that she could move in with him, and that he would take personal leave from work, but Rose refused.

“I won’t have you putting your life on hold for me,” she argued when he brought it up for the millionth time. “Besides, I know you’re my soulmate and everything, but it’s just a little awkward for me to be seen so helpless already. And it’s not fair of you to be waiting on me, hand and foot. I need help with everything, James.  _Everything_ … using the loo… showering…”

He eventually conceded, and he also reluctantly returned to work on Rose’s order. He shifted his hours, though, and he got into the school bright and early so that he could leave to visit Rose when his last class ended at three.

With nothing to do but talk, watch movies, and play the occasional board game, they got to know each other very quickly. Rose told him about her studies and her ambitions in life, while he told her about his job at the university and his cat.

“This is Schrödinger,” James said, tugging his phone out of his pocket to show her the multitude of photos he’d taken of the cat. “I adopted him a few years ago.”

“Schrödinger?” Rose asked with a giggle, looking at the mostly-black feline James was so in love with.

“Of course! You can’t tell me you never heard of Schrödinger’s cat?” he asked, feigning affront.

It was during one of their board game dates that they shared their first kiss. They’d been playing  _Monopoly_ , and Rose was losing miserably, but she was still in excellent spirits, and got so excited whenever she had a profitable turn.

“Ha! You owe me sixty quid!” she crowed when he landed on one of her only properties.

She had her hand extended for the cash, but James got distracted by her victorious grin and the way her eyes sparkled and how utterly happy she looked.

Slowly, her smile slipped. “James?”

“Er, right, yeah…” He quickly counted out the money to give to her.

“Are you all right?” she asked softly, taking the money with her casted hand so she could snag his hand in her good one. She rubbed her thumb across his knuckles, and warmth seemed to spread from his fingers, up his arm, and into his chest.

“Yeah, yep! I’m all right. I’m okie doke, perfect, wonderful, molto bene, fantast…” 

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Rose asked with a frown.

“Nothing!” he said, and he was aware that his voice cracked and squeaked in a way it hadn’t done in over ten years. “It’s just… Can I kiss you?”

Rose’s hand went limp in his, and panic began to set in. Maybe she didn’t want anything like that with him? Just because they were soulmates, that didn’t mean they had to indulge in a romantic relationship. There were plenty of cases of platonic soulmates. And that was fine. He was fine. Rose had quickly become his best friend, and simply being with her was the best thing in the world and she…

“You want to?” she asked, her voice quiet and unsure.

“Yeah,” he said. “Only if you want to, that is. Don’t feel pressured or anything. I just thought it might be nice, you know. Been thinking about it all day, honestly. You’re so beautiful when you smile and it makes me so happy to see you happy and I just thought that maybe it would be nice…”

Tears were glittering in Rose’s eyes, but a huge grin was splitting her face, and James’s heart stuttered in his chest.

“Yeah,” she said, swiping at her eyes. “I’d like that too.”

James blinked at her for a moment, before he mirrored her grin and scooted his chair next to her wheelchair. He slowly lifted his hand to cup her cheek before he carefully slid his hand back to the nape of her neck.

His eyes fluttered shut as he leaned towards her and she tilted her head back, and their lips brushed together softly. Warmth tingled where their lips met, and he sighed out a breath through his nose at the utter perfection of their first kiss. He released her lips and angled his head slightly to the side before capturing her lips again, and then again. Their lips parted and met gently, chastely, but so wonderfully.

James ached to deepen the kiss, and pull Rose closer to him, but he was aware of the physical limitations she was under, and so he slowly eased them out of the kiss. Rose’s little whimper nearly cracked his resolve, but he took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers.

“Was that good?” he asked, desperately hoping she loved that as much as he did.

“That was perfect,” Rose murmured, and her fingers were still playing with the hair on the back of his head.

James smiled in satisfaction and pecked another kiss to her lips before he settled back into his seat and returned his attention back to their game. But he kept his chair close to her, and he reached over and took her hand. Their fingers remained twined together as the game progressed and Rose made an unbelievable comeback to win.

Kissing soon became a regular occurrence for them, and their relationship continued to move forward as they grew closer with every passing day.

But in addition to sharing the highlights of their lives, they also eventually worked through some of the darker memories. Rose told him about her first boyfriend, whom she dated for only a month, but it had been enough time for him to crush her confidence and self-esteem. James told her about his family, and how scared he’d been when he thought he’d been about to lose her, too.

“You’re not gonna lose me,” she said fiercely, drawing him into as tight of a hug as she was capable of giving. “I promise.”

And while James knew that was a silly thing to promise, he was vulnerable enough to want to believe it, so he clung to it with all he had.

They were there to support and comfort each other as they healed from the wounds left by the accident. When Rose’s casts came off, they thought they were through the worst of it, but they soon realized they still had a long way to go.

Rose started a rigorous regimen of physical therapy to strengthen all of the muscles that had atrophied over the last two months, and James was there to make her smile even when she was frustrated at herself and her body for being so weak.

“Love, you broke both legs and an arm,” he said gently as he wheeled her to her room in the assisted living facility.

“I hate this,” she mumbled, swiping at her eyes. “I haven’t been able to do anything by myself in months, and I hate it!”

James helped her to the couch, where he wrapped her in a cuddle as she had a cry.

The weeks passed, and Rose was getting stronger every day, and James marveled at her strength and determination. The day she took her first unassisted steps were emotional, and they both broke down into tears as James swept her into his arms and spun her around in a congratulatory hug.

When it looked like Rose would soon be released from the convalescent facility, James brought up a suggestion.

“I have a spare bedroom in my flat,” he said as he and Rose made the short walk back to her room. She was leaning heavily on a walker, and James was pushing her wheelchair, just in case. “And I was thinking… Maybe you’d like to come live with me? It’s just… I know your mum’s flat has a bunch of stairs. It’s ungodly, honestly. My thighs are burning just thinking about all those steps.”

Rose giggled, and James grinned in response.

“Anyway, there are no stairs in my flat,” he continued. “All one floor. We would have to share the loo, unfortunately, but I promise I’m not a gross, messy flatmate. I clean quite regularly. And it’s the summer holidays, so I’d be around a lot. I know you don’t need help, but there might be a time where you’d want help. Or if you fall and can’t get up…”

“You make me sound like one of those old ladies on those TV commercials,” Rose laughed.

“Well, you know what I mean,” James said, pushing open the door to Rose’s room. “Just… think about it?”

“Okay,” Rose said.

“Right, just let me know,” he said.

“No, I meant okay as in I’ll move in with you,” Rose said.

James blinked, waiting for his brain to process what she’d said, but then a slow grin split his face.

“Oh, brilliant!” he said gleefully. “I can’t wait!”

Rose was still in the assisted living facility for another few weeks, but finally, when she no longer needed help performing basic life tasks, she was released.

James and Jackie were there to greet her, and surprise her with boxes of her things to take to James’s flat. Jackie hadn’t been exactly thrilled about Rose’s decision to move in with James, but Rose was so pleased that her mum seemed to be more accepting of it.

James really loved having Rose live with him. He was delighted when she and his cat hit it off immediately, and it was sometimes a chore to get Schrödinger to cuddle with him instead of Rose.

And it was so nice to have someone there to talk to, and share meals with. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been craving the intimacy of living with another human.

Though their relationship still hadn’t evolved beyond cuddling on the couch together and stealing chaste kisses, James was hoping to make another step forward, namely going out on a proper date.

“Want to go out to lunch?” James asked as he came home with that week’s groceries.

“Can we get chips?” Rose asked, her eyes brightening.

“Your body weight has got to be at least ninety-percent potato,” James said dryly.

“Oi, don’t you know you should never comment on a girl’s weight?” Rose asked, sticking her tongue out at him.

James stuck his tongue out at her in return, and after he put the groceries away, he returned with his keys.

“All righty, let’s get those chips,” James said.

But when he unlocked his car, Rose rested her hand on his forearm and asked, “It’s only a few blocks away… Can we walk?”

James balked. Yes, Rose had come a long way these last five months, but she still walked with a limp and she tired easily.

“Please?” she asked, pouting up at him, and oh, that wasn’t fair. “It’s just… it’s such a lovely day, and it’s been so long since I’ve been able to go on a walk outside.”

“We went outside every day at the facility,” he reminded her.

“Yeah, but that was different,” she argued. “I don’t know how to explain it… But it didn’t feel the same. Because I was forced to be there against my will, I guess. I mean, I know I was there to recover, but the fact that I couldn’t go home…”

“I understand,” James said, and he hesitated for a minute before he relocked his car. “Okay, we can walk. But Rose, please tell me if you start to get tired, or sore, and I’ll run back with the car.”

“I’ll be fine,” Rose soothed. She slid her hand down his forearm until she could twine their fingers together, and she led him towards the chippy.

James had to admit it did feel wonderful to be walking with Rose hand in hand down the street. The late August sun was warm, and there was a refreshing breeze that kept them from getting too hot as they made their way to the chippy.

When they got to the restaurant, James ushered Rose to one of the tables outside before he went inside to get their food.

“So, is this our first date?” Rose asked when he sat down on the bench beside her with their tray of food.

“What about all those days I snuck in chips for you at the facility?” James asked with an over dramatic pout. “Don’t those count? Or all the times we played board games? Or took walks out in the garden?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Rose said. “Okay, first date when I’m actually capable of going out somewhere?”

“Absolutely,” James said, snagging a chip from her plate. “Though now I feel a little inadequate… Shouldn’t first dates be this grand, romantic dinner?”

“Not necessarily,” Rose argued. “Sure, that’s nice, but I don’t need that, James. It’s the person that makes the perfect date, and that’s you. I just want to be with you, no matter where we go.”

Warmth fizzled outward from his chest. “Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I love spending time with you, Rose.”

“I love spending time with you, too, James,” she said with a smile.

“Though I would like to take you out to a nice restaurant someday,” he said. “I want to take you everywhere.”

“Everywhere?” she teased, but he could see the fondness in her eyes. “That might take a while.”

“Well, good thing we’ve got the rest of our lives, eh?” he asked, setting his hand on the table, palm up.

Rose slid her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. “Yeah.”

When they were done eating, Rose again tested his resolve by asking to take a walk to a nearby park.

“Please?” she asked, and James was certain she knew exactly what that pout did to him. “There are loads of benches and places to rest if I need them.”

With a sigh, James gave in and stood up from the table with Rose, and they took off towards the park. He kept Rose’s hand tucked in his as he kept pace with her.

They’d been walking for maybe twenty minutes when Rose steered them towards a bench.

“Can we sit for a bit?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said, sitting beside her so that their thighs touched.

James absently played with her fingers as he waited for Rose to catch her breath and give her legs a break.

But unfortunately, they’d only been resting for a few minutes when clouds darkened the sky, and then the first raindrop fell.

“Er, I don’t mean to rush you,” he said as a drop of rain hit his upturned face, “but we might want to get going, or else we’re going to get drenched.”

Rose grimaced and nodded, and hefted herself to her feet. They’d barely taken a step when the skies opened and the sparse drizzle turned into a steady, soaking rain.

James’s instinct was to sprint forward towards shelter, but the pressure of Rose’s hand in his and her limping gait beside him kept him strolling slowly alongside her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze and dropping it. “You can run on ahead. I’ll meet you back at the flat.”

“Don’t be daft,” James scoffed. “I’m not leaving you.”

“No point in you getting soaked because I can’t walk faster than an eighty-year-old woman,” she said bitterly.

“Hey, Rose, it’s all right,” he said gently, taking her hand again. “It’s just a bit of rain. I’m not gonna melt.”

Rose cracked a wry grin, and continued to walk through the rain as fast as she could.

“I could always carry you,” he said when he saw her face was pinched in a permanent wince the longer they hobbled along. When Rose looked up at him dubiously, he defended, “I’m stronger than I look. C’mon. Climb on.”

Rose bit her lip in a moment’s hesitation, before she clambered onto his back. James shivered when her warmth surrounded him, and her thighs wrapped around his hips and her arms wound around his neck.

“See!” he said, bouncing a little to make her laugh. “You’ve got yourself a strong, sturdy soulmate.”

Rose giggled again, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“My knight in shining armor,” she whispered. “Go on, Sir James.”

James speed-walked the rest of the way to their flat, but they were still thoroughly wet when he finally unlocked the front door.

Rose hopped down from his back, and their shoes squeaked on the floor as rain dripped from their hair and clothes. As they caught sight of each other, and how horrid they looked, they couldn’t help but burst into a fit of giggles.

“What a way to end the first date,” James snorted.

“Oh, I dunno,” Rose said. “That was still pretty fun. Getting carried piggyback-style through the pouring rain… can’t say I’ve ever done that before. Besides, I can think of at least one way to make this date end on a high note.”

James caught on to the sultry note in her voice, and his stomach flip-flopped.

“Oh yeah?” he rasped.

“Mhm.”

Rose stepped up to him until their fronts were pressed together, and she slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders and link her fingers behind his neck. Her tongue swept across her bottom lip, making it shine so invitingly.

They both moved at once: she rocked up onto her tiptoes as he leaned down, and their lips met in a soft kiss. He sighed against her mouth, and he wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her closer. Her body pressed closer, fitting perfectly along the length of his, and not for the first time, James marveled at how much he loved Rose.

His ring pulsed comfortingly against his finger, the beat speeding as it always did the longer they kissed. He was sure her ring’s pulse had increased in time with his racing heart.

Their lips parted and met leisurely and with the confidence borne of having stolen kisses over and over again for the last few months.

“James,” Rose murmured against his mouth.

He grunted in reply, but continued to peck kisses to the corner of her mouth. Rose breathed out a laugh, but tilted her head back in invitation.

“James, I want to tell you something,” she sighed, scraping her nails through his hair.

He grunted again, and was dimly aware that his soul-ring was pulsing faster than ever.

“James… I love you.”

His heart seemed to stop for a moment before it began to try to beat its way out of his chest. He took his lips away from her jaw and pulled back to look at her.

She was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and a pink blush stained her cheeks.

“I just wanted you to know,” she said quietly. “I love you. More than anything. And I’m so glad that you’re my soulmate, and I’m so thankful you’ve been there to support me since the accident.”

James felt light-headed, but like he was bursting apart with happiness. No, not happiness. That wasn’t a strong enough word for what he felt. He was… It was like all of his bones had been replaced with warm towels, heating him from the inside out and making his limbs feel all wobbly. It was like all of his hopes and dreams had come true all at once. It was like he was the luckiest, most important man in the world.

“Rose,” he rasped, feeling so honored that this woman was his, and that she loved him.

“You-you don’t have to say anything,” she said, but James shook his head. He’d had those words inside of him for months, but they’d scared him. Everything he’d ever loved, he’d lost. He hadn’t wanted to jinx it, silly as it was. But now, standing in their flat, in Rose’s arms, with her taste on his lips and her scent in his nose, he desperately wanted to give those words to Rose. Like she’d given them to him.

“Oh, Rose,” he whispered, cradling her cheeks in his palms. “My Rose. I love you, too. So much.”

Her face relaxed into a soft, shy smile that made her the most beautiful person he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. And she was all his. Just like he was all hers.

Rose’s hands came up to rest against his, and he felt the warm brush of metal against the backs of his fingers. He turned his head to the side to press a kiss to her palm, and then to the knuckle just below her soul-ring.

It was a slightly odd sensation, of being able to feel his pulse against his lips, but James loved it. He loved it because it was undeniable proof that they were soulmates, and that his heart was hers, and hers alone.

“I love you more than you’ll know,” he murmured against her ring.

“I think I’ve got a pretty good idea,” she whispered, her voice thick with tears. She slid her hand to the back of his neck and leaned up to press the softest of kisses to his lips. “If it’s anywhere close to how much I love you.”

James hummed happily and he pressed a sloppy kiss to her lips before he buried his face into her neck and simply held her.

Reality seemed to fade away. He forgot all about his cold, wet clothes and instead lost himself in Rose, and in the simple pleasure of holding and being held by his soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here’s the promised fluffy end! I hope you enjoyed this little story!


End file.
